Fire truck heading to Kimbe

By LORRAINE JIMAL
KIMBE Fire Station in West New Britain is expecting the arrival of a heavy duty fire truck this week to boost its firefighting operations in the province.According to PNG Fire Service Chief Bill Roo, the transfer of the fire truck from Port Moresby was to replace the station’s old fire truck.“This particular fire truck can carry the capacity of 9,000 liters of water and another 3,000L of foam for firefighting operations,” he said.Roo said the truck was one of nine specialised vehicles donated to the PNG Fire Service by China during the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in Port Moresby.“Due to recent proposed projects undertaken to establish new fire stations by the fire service with the support from several provincial governments we have been able to allocate fire trucks to these stations.”Roo said the West New Britain provincial government had helped meet the cost of shipping fire truck to Kimbe.Roo thanked WNB Governor Francis Manake and his administration for their support.He said having a functional fire service in Kimbe was crucial as the province was home to several major agricultural and development projects.Roos said counter-funding provided by local governments was needed for the fire service to establish its stations in provinces.Meanwhile, Roo said a fire truck would soon be shipped to serve at a proposed fire station in Bougainville.